Crafty Makes

Busy Bee Friday

2012-01-27T13:44:00.002Z

I'm the cat that got the cream today, it is a gloriously sunny day here, bit cold but still lovely. I spent the morning out and about taking photos for a commission which was great fun but not only that I managed to finish my DT make for Creative Expressions.

I was having difficulty finishing this piece, I got 90% finished then just got stuck, you ever had that? I tried several different things but none of them felt right. But with a little inspiration from some challenges and my Muse (the ever patient David) and here you have it:

This month the Creative Expression's DT have the Eco Green Crafts Garden Chic to play with and very lovely it is too!

Did you know that these stamps are made from recycled rubber? How cool is that? You know how I love recycling things!

The button is one of the recycled plastic buttons I've been rusting and I gave you a little peek into my rusty habit on Wednesday.

I've used one of the That Special Touch masks - Flourish Mask to add some texture.

Right so the challenges that inspired this make are my lovely friends over at Gingersnap Creations with their Glorious Green Color Challenge this month. I also thought I would enter into this week's Simon Says Show and Tell challenge where a lot of my bloggy friends inspire us with their amazing DT makes. Their Challenge is 'Song Title' and I was going with 'Greensleeves' but that just wasn't working but then my muse suggested 'Busy Bee' by Arthur Askey and it all just came together!

Tee Hee!

Have a Busy Bee Friday!

Kim

What Is On Your Work Desk Wednesday (WOYWW) - RUST!

2012-01-25T07:00:00.159Z

Yep, I have a rusty desk today, well to be honest I have had a rusty desk for the last few days as I'm rusting a few things in batches.

I thought it would make a good WOYWW so don't forget to pop on over to Julia's blog to join in the fun!

If you want to know how I do it then read on, if not than just whiz on down to the comments to say WOYWW 'Hi'.

*******

A couple of folks asked how I do my rusting after posting this make from last week:

I've rusted the fabric - the key was an already rusted find.

If any of you have seen my 'The Machinist' make in the September 2011 issue of the Craft Stamper you would have spotted a clue as to how I rust stuff but here are some more details...

You will need:

Rusting Powder from Crafty Notions (available from places like Crafty Notions or Rainbow Silks)

White vinegar

Water

Things to rust

Bowl/tray/old newpaper/plastic sheets

Glue stick/Acrylic wax (Optional)

I set myself up a space to rust and layer up some plastic sheets and newspaper to protect the surface of my desk or tray or whatever you are rusting in/on - this is going to be messy!

Fabric - If you are rusting fabric give it a soak in a solution made from one part water - a little bit more than one part white vinegar. You can happily use 100% vinegar but I'm a cheap skate! The more evenly saturated the fabric the more even the rust covering will be so if you want some areas more rusted than others experiment with the length of time you saturate the fabrics, where you put the rusting powder or only saturate parts of the fabric. You can play with rubber bands wrapped roughly around the fabric to get 'tie-dye' like patterns too.

Sprinkle on the rusting powder and allow the rust to develop as the fabric dries.

TIP - I also add bits of metal or previously rusted items to my rusting and rust layers of soaked fabrics in a bundle. You get some interesting intensities and patterns. If you are lucky you might have a bit of copper in the metal and you will get some lovely greens developing too. You can keep adding soaked fabric to the original rusted fabric to rust more pieces, you might need to add a little more vinegar solution each time.

When you are finished let the fabric dry completely and then brush off the rusty bits you no longer want.

Card/Paper - There are a couple of ways of rusting card and paper. I often cover bits of the paper and card with a glue stick and add the powder to the glue then sprinkle with the vinegar solution. Let the rust develop as the card/paper dries.

You can then use this piece as a base to rust other card or paper by soaking a new piece of card/paper in the vinegar solution and layering it on top of the original rusted piece and let it dry again.

Plastic - You can rust all sorts of things and I have had fun rusting non-rustable items such as plastic buttons or metal that won't rust etc. Add glue stick to the plastic to be rusted, sprinkle on the rusting powder and some vinegar solution and let it dry. If you are worried the rust will fall off then seal the object with a little bit of gel medium or a layer of polymer medium which dries clear. I think this is where the acrylic wax comes in to it's own, but as I don't have any I use the glue stick and a sealant!

Heavy gel medium is great for attaching the heavy rusted elements to your work, I've been using the one from Golden.

So you can use your rusted items in your work such as with these rusted cogs in this altered sardine tin make:

Or use your fabric to stamp on and stitch into:

Yumsk!

Have fun with this one and I would love to see what you do with it, so don't forget to leave a link to any makes.

Kim

Pin It

Inspiration Monday {Love Is In The Air}

2012-01-23T10:00:00.010Z

A little bit of Love is all you need to get you through a Monday! Here is lots of love for you which, as you have guessed from my title, is this week's La-La Land Crafts inspiration theme.

I thought I would go a little askew with the inspiration and devote my love to cake with the lovely La-La Land Crafts Chef Marci.

I just don't know what is going on, but I'm in this HUGE yellow thing at the moment. I think it might be the promise of the up and coming Spring!

Chef Marci is available as a rubber stamp and a digi-stamp.

There is love on the La-La Land Crafts blog today and will be even more on Friday so don't forget to check it out and the check out the customer gallery as well as you are at it!

Oh and if you are going to the CHA at the end of the week then check out the La-La Land Crafts booth too!

Have a cake-a-liscious Monday.

Kim

Love You Forever...

2012-01-20T13:01:00.003Z

All taggerific today - I have a tag made from yummy rust, fabric and packaging for my DT Creative Expressions make this week.

It is another using the Wendy Vecchi Studio 490 range - the Sentimental Art Stamp Set.

I have stamped the textile stamp from the kit onto metal, cut it out and then manipulated it to add a bit of dimension to the metal heart. The sentiment is from the kit too.

I'm a bit of a rust collector and the key was a rusty find :) The fabric I rusted myself and I have a bundle rusting in a bowl as I write this post - yes, I am a bit strange!

What fun!

Have a fabulously rusty weekend.

Kimx

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - WOYWW

2012-01-18T10:02:00.000Z

What is this? I've managed to join the WOYWW revellers on two consecutive weeks? Shock!

Yay! Hello WOYWW-ers!

I thought I would show another mini-journal page this week on my rather untidy work space. I've been ~~playing~~ working with PanPastel and Zig Millennium pen.

With a little bit of old map page altering, well tiny really - the ickle house on the hill. It is only a little bit of cutesy journalling fun :)

If you want to join in the WOYWW fun then don't forget to pop on over to Julia's blog Stamping Ground!

Catch you later Jounallaters!

Kim

Magazine Article Update...

2012-01-17T08:32:00.007Z

It's article update time, I don't know if you have had a chance to see but I have a couple of articles in the current issues of Papercraft Essentials issue 76 and Simply Cards and Papercraft issue 93?

That's me - the 'I Love You!' Cards :) using the lovely Darkroom Door Hearts stamp set.

I got to play with the free cover stamps from Nikky Hall's Polkadoodles.

Hope you enjoyed them!

Kimx

Inspiration Monday {Favourite Things}

2012-01-16T10:26:00.000Z

Let's start this week how we mean to go on shall we? With some Favourite things! That is the La-La Land Crafts Inspiration this week:

Favourite Things

Well I have quite a few favourite things, so it was quite hard to narrow down! I went through quite a few options before settling upon texture, stitching and the yummy Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden papers I've used on this card. Not a paper range that is easy to find in the UK unfortunately! I was very lucky to have been sent some from La-La Land Crafts lovely boss Irina so it was only right that it should be one of my favourites in this make!

Of course Jesalyn is my favourite from the La-La Land Crafts Girlfriends range, so another favourite covered! You can find her as a rubber stamp or a digi stamp.

She is so elegant don't you think?

Don't forget to check out the rest of the DT's lovely makes today and on Friday over at the La-La Land Crafts Blog and link up your makes to the Customer Gallery for a chance to win.

Also check out the 20% Off Rubber stamps Pre-CHA sale over at the La-La Land Crafts Shop!

Right I'm off to sort out my next project, so many things my head is full of jumping beans!

Kim

One Perfect Friday!

2012-01-13T14:33:00.001Z

Happy Friday my Fluffy Bloggy Friends. My fingers are inky, all the surfaces in the flat are full of inky things drying and it is sunny outside! A perfect day!

So I have a perfect sentiment for a perfect day from Wendy Vecchi Studio 490 range - the Sentimental Art Stamp Set available from Creative Expressions .

The sentiment says:

'A Perfect Day Is

Waking Up With

A Purpose

And Retiring With

A Dream

For Tomorrow'

What a wonderful sentiment!

And I told you I had inky fingers!

Have a fabulous Friday!

Kim

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - WOYWW

2012-01-11T08:19:00.000Z

Mid-week check up!

How are you all doing? What have you all been up to since Monday? It's commission land here, been a bit obsessed trying to finish something off but I did spend a little time playing with some acrylic inks and my ZIG Writer pen.

I meant to show it to you last week for a bit of colourful fun but I've just been totally focussed on this commission.

I thought I would link it up to the lovely Julia's What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday (WOYWW) 136. My first of the year!

Better get back to work...

Catch you later.

Kim

Inspiration Monday {Make A Scene}

2012-01-09T10:10:00.001Z

What is the La-La Land Crafts Inspiration this week? Make A Scene! Yep this week it is all about making a scene with your La-La Land Crafts stamps and I thought I would make a little story with mine.

I've used the new Heart Balloon Luka and with the suitcases and sentiment from the Suitcase Set, which you can also get as digi-stamps, to make this little travelling scene.

To make the background I altered one of my photographs of a train and you have a little story told in card form.

But making a scene couldn't be simpler have you seen the La-La Land Crafts new scene stamps? They are some of the digital versions of the La-La Land Crafts stamps grouped to make scenes and they are fabulous!

So don't forget if your want to join in Making a Scene then link up your make in the Customer Gallery and you could win a prize.

If you are looking for more scenes then don't forget to pop on over to the La-La Land Crafts blog today and Friday!

Catch you later.

Kimx

Totally Textile Tag - But With No Actual Textiles...

2012-01-06T10:05:00.001Z

Hello Fellow Friday Frolickers it is DT time again and today is my DT make for Creative Expressions and this month the DT is using one of Wendy Vecchi Studio 490 range - the Sentimental Art Stamp Set.

I've made a companion tag to go with the card I showed you last year - that sounds so long ago doesn't it? Ok so it was only 2 weeks ago before Christmas.

So how has your first week of the new year been? Getting used to saying 2012 yet? Made any creative plans for the months ahead?

Hope you are enjoying it so far!

Kim

Inspiration Monday {Pink, Black, White}

2012-01-02T10:00:00.008Z

Happy New Year Everyone!

Hope you had a wonderful holiday season and are all ready for what 2012 has to bring you?

My first blog post for the New Year is my La-La Land Crafts Monday DT piece and this week the inspiration is 'Pink, Black and White'.

What better way to start the New Year than with some 'Lurve' with Cupid Luka.

I added a bit of sparkle to his hair.

Have you seen the new La-La Land Crafts Digi-scenes? Very cute! If you get a chance go check them out!

May 2012 be filled with love, creativity and happiness for you!

Kimx

Goodbye 2011 - A Blog In Review

2011-12-30T13:18:00.001Z

It's that time again - the year is coming to a close and we all take the opportunity to look back over 2011 and forward to 2012.

Like many crafty/arty bloggers I like to post some of my personal favourite makes from the year passing. It is a little self-indulgent I know but I like to think of it is an analytical exercise, a way of charting my progression through the year and to see what areas need more work. You may only see my favourites in this post but to get to these I have looked at everything I've published on my blog through 2011 the good and the bad!

So here are my 2011 personal favourites, in no particular order, and each title is a link to the original post if you wanted more details, materials links or something catches your eye:

An Octopode Factory Fabric piece from September

I love working with fabric and stitch, it is one of my favourite mediums, this piece uses quilting methods, image transfer, pencil colouring and distressing.

An Altered Sardine Tin from May

Another one of my favourite mediums is metal and rust and I just love recycling and constructing 3D forms so this altered sardine just resonates with me and was great fun to make.

A Textured ATC from August

Ok so this make may be a little less tactile than the first two makes but it still uses many different techniques with book pages, maps, stamping, embossing, watercolour stamping, grunging. I just love the ethereal look of the girls and the promise of mystery with the door in the background.

A Clean And Simple Card from October

This CAS card is a complete change of pace from the other makes but it is still one of my favourites and was a bit of a shock to me at how well it turned out LOL! It was obviously a fluke as I haven't coloured this well since!

A PanPastel Piece from November

This was my first piece trying out PanPastels and I loved making it! It uses several different techniques with the PanPastels such as stamping, masking, colouring, grunging, blending and I've used a little bit of stitch as well.

An Inky Card from March

Another mixed media piece using several different techniques to add texture and another of my favourite fun makes from 2011 where I just got all inky and messy!

A Clean And Simple Card from July

So I am flip-flopping a bit between ultra messy and totally clean makes for my favourites list! But I am the sort of person that flip-flops between styles - commitment issues LOL! I just love the simplicity of this one and the Summer Orange and Cerise colour combo which is one of my favourites!

An Art Journal Page from March

Ok so having said I love CAS - which I do, but if I had to pick one thing that makes me very happy it would be getting messy with paints and that is what you see here with this Art Journal page. I've again used lots of different techniques for this one with some experimenting with inkjet printed photographs and stabilising them enough so that I could hand tint them with pens from Kuretake. Me in my element - experimenting and making a mess!

A Poppy Made From Sweet Wrappers from June

This was a tutorial I put together for my guest Muse spot with Gingersnap Creations blog and is all made from recycled items, sweet wrappers and card. Super fun to make with a bit of stamping and free motion embroidery thrown in for good measure!

Last But Not Least A Fabric ATC from August

So I started with a fabric favourite so what better way to end than another fabric make, this one uses some paint, rusting, stitching, distressing and stamping techniques and is definitely a favourite for 2011.

*****

I would love to see your 2011 favourites so please do drop a link in the comments below and I will pop on over!

Thank you so much for joining me in this arty journey over 2011, I've loved all your comments and visiting all your wonderful blogs so full of inspiration!

I look forward with excitement to travelling with you through a creative 2012.

Have a Wonderful New Year!

Kim

La-La Land Crafts Inspiration Monday

2011-12-27T07:20:00.054Z

Hey Guys, hope you had a lovely Christmas, or are having a lovely Hanakkah.

Ok so I am having another day shift. The title says 'Monday' but the day says 'Tuesday'! You are going to start thinking that I'm having some sort of weekday blind spot after the whole Sunday-Wednesday debacle last week!

Well my reason for not posting this yesterday was that it was Boxing Day here in the UK, more Christmas celebrations for my non-UK readers, so I kind of missed posting my La-La Land Crafts Monday post - oops! But good things are worth waiting for aren't they? LOL!

This week the La-La Land Crafts Inspiration is Flower Power so I've used little Kitty Kat Marci with her Flower Power Flower and you can find her as a rubber stamp or a digi-stamp.

I thought she would look good in Sunshine Yellow!

Don't forget to check out the La-La Land Crafts blog for the DT makes this week.

Have a Sunshine Yellow ~~Monday~~ Tuesday.

Kim

Season's Greetings

2011-12-25T06:00:00.006Z

To you and your family.

Kimx

The Friday Before Christmas And All Through The House...

2011-12-23T08:23:00.001Z

Well my work / play things are packed away so that we can use my little desk, a folding garden table, as our dining table on Sunday. I'm slightly concerned that I might get withdrawal symptoms between now and when I put it back up next week so I've left my smash book and art journal in easy reach and I'll just have to be super inventive and make marks with mulled wine and mince pies instead!

So here is my last make before Christmas and it is my DT make for Creative Expressions this month the DT is using one of Wendy Vecchi Studio 490 range - the Sentimental Art Stamp Set.

What a fabulous sentiment, perfect for my last make before Christmas with all my things packed away!

Have a lovely Christmas Eve eve and Christmas Eve and enjoy watching Santa on his rounds!

Kim

Sunday Round-Up

2011-12-21T09:38:00.000Z

Eh? Sunday? Nope I've not confused my days! It is Wednesday! But I am just dropping by with the kind of post that I would usually put up on a Sunday! Namely I have a couple of articles in magazines for your entertainment in those quiet moments between seasonal holiday preparations. Erm?

Ok so there are no quiet times and you might have to lock yourself away in the shed (hopefully heated) with a cuppa just to put your feet up at the moment! LOL!

First up is my recent colouring article in Papercraft Essentials Issue 75.

It uses stamps from La-La Land Crafts and Creative Expressions.

Next a 10 Cards for £10 challenge article in Simply Cards and Papercraft Issue 92.

It was an interesting challenge, have you tried doing 10 cards for £10? It really made me think about my materials, you were allowed glue and scissors and things like that but you had to include the base cards and embellishments in the £10. If you do have a go at the challenge I would love to know how you get on so drop me a comment / email / link!

Right I'll be off now, but before I go a last reminder for anyone looking for PanPastels - Your Creativity Store still has an offer on all their PanPastel and Sofft Tools with FREE P&P
as well!

Enjoy your ~~Sunday~~ Wednesday!

Kim

A Tag And A Couple Of Fond Farewells

2011-12-20T15:15:00.000Z

Hey All, I have a tag for you today using the lovely Paper Smooches Promenade stamp kit available over at the Make The Day Special shop.

I've used the ZIG Art and Graphic Twin pens for this make and you might recognise the shape! I did say that it was one of my favourite tag shapes at the moment. You can download a free template for it with my project over at the Make With Me website if you would like to use the same shape.

*****

Well, as this post hinted to in the title I am saying a fond farewell to a couple of my design teams. It has been a tough decision as I've been with both teams practically from their start up and I have enjoyed every minute of it. But it is time to work on some new projects and so I've stepped down from the Make The Special and Quixotic Paperie design teams.

I will miss working with Emily from Make The Day Special and Elaine from Quixotic Paperie they have both been wonderful bosses :) I will also miss all the girls on both of the two fabulous teams, you guys have been the best!

You will still see makes on my blog from both shops of course but for all the latest news don't forget to check out the Make The Day Special and Quixotic Paperie blogs.

Kim

Inspiration Monday {All White}

2011-12-19T10:03:00.000Z

Happy Monday everyone, it's Inspiration Monday with La-La Land Crafts. This week we have an all white theme. You can add colour with the image but the rest of the card has to be white.

My burst of colour comes in the form of Hunny Bunny Marci, one of my recent favourites! You can find her as a rubber stamp or a digital stamp.

You should see all the amazing white makes from the DT over at the La-La Land Craft Blog today and on Friday and you might want to hook up your La-La Land Crafts makes to the Customer Gallery to be in with a chance to win a prize.

Oh and have you checked out the La-La Land Crafts Facebook page recently? Great for sneaks of the newest release and pre-releases.

Have a great Monday.

Kim

Travel With Me

2011-12-17T07:50:00.001Z

What is this? Something not Christmas themed on my blog? Yay! We are almost there! Yep, it is almost Christmas itself and I have a travel themed make to show you today for a change.

It is my Creative Expressions DT piece and it is a mica tile ephemera art piece using stamps from the JustRite Cling Bon Voyage stamp set.

I got all inky and gluey with it - oh yeah lots of messy fun! Just how I like it!

I love playing with mica sheets as I love the vintage, translucent look it gives a make and I added the beads and wire as I felt that they gave the piece some more detail and texture.

Have a lovely Saturday.

Kim

Make With Me Tutorial

2011-12-15T12:37:00.001Z

Another tutorial today - this time it is to make these packaging recycled tags and you will find it on the Make With Me website in the Christmas Make Week section.

Whilst you are there checkout all the other Christmas projects as well!

You will find Make With Me on Facebook and Twitter too.

Hope you like it! The templates are included in the free to download tutorial, you might have noticed that this is my favourite tag shape at the moment LOL!

Kimx

Kuretake And Basically Bare Snowy Angel Bauble

2011-12-14T08:47:00.000Z

Hello Christmas Chicks! I don't know if any of you have spotted this already but I have a tutorial up on the Kuretake Blog for how I made this fun little Basically Bare and ZIG Pens Snowy Angel Bauble.

Do feel free to go take a look and whilst you are there check out all the amazing tutorials and tips from the rest of the Design Team and the Kuretake Marketing team.

You might want to hook up with Kuretake on their Blog, Twitter or Facebook or all three as they regularly do giveaways and you will get to see all the products and hear all the news first hand of course!

Kim

Snowy Paper Smooches

2011-12-13T12:08:00.000Z

Ok so I confess! I have a Christmas Card today, thought I had made my last Christmas card last week but then I had the idea of using stamps from the Paper Smooches Promenade kit, available over at Make The Day Special, with some puff paint to give some snowy touches.

Gives a cute Christmassy feel don't you think?

So I wonder if this is the last Christmas card I will make this year?

Have a fun Tuesday.

Kim

Winner! Winner!

2011-12-12T17:16:00.011Z

Thanks everyone who entered my magazine giveaway.

I used good old Random.org to choose:

Irene from Irene's Scrapbook

Congratulations Irene, please send me your posting address by email to:

and I will get the magazine into the post for you.

Inspiration Monday {Circles}

2011-12-12T10:00:00.023Z

Monday, Monday. Guess what? It's Monday! So I have my La-La Land Crafts DT card for Inspiration Monday which this week is all about circles.

I've used Snowboarding Luka for a Winter birthday card commission.

Don't forget to pop over to the La-La Land Crafts blog on Friday for more inspiration from the Friday team! Also we love to see your La-La Land Crafts makes so just link them up to the Customer Gallery and be in with a chance to win a prize.

Have a fun circle filled Monday.

Kim

Sunday Round-Up - A Post For My Mum

2011-12-11T16:00:00.002Z

Have you noticed how my posts here on the blog have been getting later and later? Ok so my first New Year resolution for 2012 will be to get back into the rhythm of scheduling my blog posts for first thing in the morning!

Well, I say New Year resolution but I don't really do that resolution thing - just too much pressure for a New Year I think. I try to pace my self-improvement steadily throughout the year - it is a slow, ongoing project with many pitfalls - LOL!

This isn't really a round-up post as I have no links to share with you today, I've not really had a chance to do much blog hopping and I feel that I am missing out on all the fabulous things that happen in the blogosphere - I feel 'resolution' number two coming up - and hopefully I can get more blog hopping done and sharing of links in the New Year.

No this is really a post for my Mum. My Mum is an amazing knitter, only one of her substantial creative skill sets by the way. I thought she might enjoy seeing the jumper I knitted for David a while back being put to good use and that you might get a giggle out of it too of course!

Ok so I might have got the size slightly wrong but I am trying (very trying as David might say!). And it comes in handy as it can get cold in the flat!

Have a fun Sunday!

Kim

Christmas Shopping? Bah Humbug!

2011-12-10T17:13:00.000Z

Hey All, I wanted to share some of my favourite items in Quixotic Paperie with you all today and to give you a well deserved break from the 'fun' of Christmas shopping.

Cup of tea at the ready? Check! Cozy slippers on? Check! Biscuits? Check!

Right we are off!

Well you know that there are still some special offers on stamps with 15% Off The Greeting Farm, and Elizabeth Bell for SCACD.

There is also 15% off the Stempelglede stamps including this gorgeous Christmas set - Vintage Christmas - which is one of my all time favourites.

What about some finishing pieces for the decorations like this wonderful Make It Crafty laser cut chipboard Gingerbread Decorations Kit - Love!

But don't forget to buy the base house to go with it though!

Ok so you might want to get something that isn't Christmas themed for a change? Let's have a look at what else is a recent addition in the shop.

Well there are the lovely Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps of course, like the fabulous Priscilla here:

The Alota Stamps range has a new addition - this fabulous chair which is so useful for so many stamps.

In fact this is such a useful stamp that you will see it in an article in the latest issue of Papercrafts Essentials (Issue 75) - Tee Hee! Keep your eyes out for that!

I was wondering if this cute little lady - The Collector - from the Gorjuss range would also fit this chair? I'm not sure of the sizes but she would look super cute if she does fit, what do you think?

Have you seen this handmade themed sentiment set from Paper Make-Up Stamps yet?

Bet you can guess which of these sentiments is my favourite? LOL! It's probably yours too if I know us 'Mad Crafters'!

Well that is probably enough temptation from me - don't want to be blamed for your shopping spree now do I? LOL!

Have a good old browse and let me know what your favourites are from Quixotic Paperie! I'm SO nosy! But you better be quick as the shop will be closing for Christmas on Thursday 15th December.

Your Enabling Christmas Elf.

Kim

Decorating The Christmas Tree

2011-12-09T14:30:00.003Z

Have you decorated your Christmas tree yet? Ours is looking a little sad at the moment whilst I trip over the Christmas decorations in bags on the floor. This weekend the decorations will finally go up! YAY!

Have you made any of your decorations? I have a made decoration today for my Creative Expressions DT make for the week. It is a tree string - is that what you call them? It uses the Fleur De Lis from the JustRite Cling Bon Voyage stamp set.

They are stamped onto pink pearlescent paper and the thread is silver with beads for extra glitz.

Have a fun Friday.

Kim

Blog Candy! Giveaway!

2011-12-08T07:04:00.021Z

I find myself with two copies of the latest issue of Simply Cards and Papercrafts, anybody want my spare, unopened, still with cover gift copy?

Leave me a comment below before 12 noon Sunday 11th December 2011 and I will pick someone at random to send this off to!

Open to all my followers here on the Blog, Twitter or Facebook and I'm happy to send overseas but most likely it will be sent by second class post!

Good luck!

Kim

Book Review - Crafting With Cat Hair

2011-12-07T08:06:00.006Z

Review - Crafting With Cat Hair: Cute Handicrafts To Make With You Cat by Koari Tsutaya, Translated from the Japanese by Amy Hirschman, Published by Quirk Books 2011

(Cover Photo Copyright Quirk Books)

So have you ever crafted with cat hair? Well, we get Angora jumpers from rabbit hair, Mohair scarves from goats and woollen mittens from sheep, so why not crafty makes from cat hair? Why not indeed? Well, if you fancy it, Crafting With Cat Hair has everything you need to get you started with Cat Hair crafting.

Crafting With Cat Hair was written, originally in Japanese, by cat-obsessed writer Kaori Tsutaya and then translated into English by crafter and translator Amy Hirschman. It is in a neat 19 cm by 20 cm paperback format and is packed to the brim with cute kitty photos - which you would expect of course but being another cat obsessive, it is fun seeing a craft book dedicated to kitty cats!

The book is based around felting techniques with the cat hair. There are ten projects and most of them use needle felting to decorate a felt or woollen item with an image of a cat. A couple of them, such as making a cat hair finger puppet and the project where you apply the finger puppet to a felt box, use a wet felting technique. You get help and instruction for both these techniques, although you may need some previous experience of felting with fur or at least some crafty common sense as some of the instructions are a little short.

As Kaori herself points out, cat hair isn't quite like sheep wool so it is good for decorating projects but you would not be able to make a usable bag from it for example. Some of the projects include a decorated coin purse, some really cute kitty badges and kitty cat portraits, and some great scarf, hat and glove decorations. All projects come with step-by-step instructions and some come with pictures to help you with some of the stages.

The book's greatest strength is in the details of how to groom and care for your cat with an aim to collect cat hair and have a happy, well-groomed cat of course! It answers some of your catty questions from what to do about pests, when the best time to harvest cat hair is and to how to look after the projects you have decorated with the cat hair.

There are patterns, materials lists and handy tips throughout. I loved the section where you get to meet the cat hair contributors - cute touch! There is also a great section on grooming brushes but most of the links are for Japanese stockists, apart from one American stockist, so I don't know how readily available these brushes are for the UK and European markets, although a quick internet search did point to similar products being available in the UK.

I loved this book for its kitty pictures and great tips on looking after your cat, but as a serious craft project book I felt that you might be disappointed with the effort you put in and the end product when you finish. I think it would be perfect for a teenager who loves cats and has a crafty side, or for a cat-obsessed felt crafter who is looking for something different to felt with! You can find it over at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

(Just so you know – this book was sent to me by Quirk books to review. My views are honest, unbiased and unpaid, well other than a free copy of the book that is!)

Good News Everyone!

2011-12-06T17:48:00.010Z

It's PanPastel Christmas offer time at YourCreativityStore.com.

All the single colours are now £4.99 instead of £5.99. PanPastel 5, 10 and 20 Sets are reduced by up to 20% and the Sofft tools are also 20% off!

Told you it was good news, but that is not all they are all FREE P&P too until the 25th Dec!

Stock up time!

Don't forget to check out the Pan Pastel Challenge blog too, the DT call is still open...

Tee Hee!

Kim

Merry And Bright

2011-12-06T08:07:00.000Z

All Merry and Bright today and with the results of last week's experimenting in the Kim Labs with texture stamping using the ZIG Art and Graphic Twin Pens from Kuretake, also available at Make The Day Special.

The stamp is the Unity Itty Bitty Merry And Bright Set and I've doodled over it with some ZIG Memory System Millenium pens.

Hope you have a Merry and Bright day!

Kim

Scrap-Mart Holiday Blog Hop News

2011-12-05T15:00:00.044Z

Hi guys, La-La Land Crafts has joined forces with some other major companies for a blog hop today with lots of prizes. If you want to join in pop on over to the La-La Land Crafts blog to find out more.

I've got another one of the new release La-La Land Crafts stamps to show you - Snowboarding Marci

Have fun

Kim

La-La Land Crafts New Release Day

2011-12-05T09:40:00.000Z

Hey guys, La-La Land Crafts have lots of lovely new stamps for you today! Yep it is New Release Day!

To find out more and to see all the new stamps pop on over to the La-La Land Crafts blog.

I've used the new Suitcase set for my vintage postcard make today.

You weren't expecting that now where you? Well you are going to want to see the rest if of the release too!

Will be back later with some blog hopping news - so stay tuned :)

Kim

Last Christmas Card?

2011-12-03T07:17:00.066Z

Not quite the last Christmas card I have made this year but almost there! I've done my Christmas card commissions but I still have one more Christmas card to make before I can put the Christmas things away for another year! I have plenty more Christmas makes to show you though - so you don't get off that easily!

This one uses paper from Prima Marketing and is called Alla Prima, you can get it over at Quixotic Paperie.

I really like the Prima papers they are GREAT value for money, you get 48 sheets with 12 designs and 4 of each designs. Which means that if you really like a design you don't use it all up in making one card, or get all conflicted if it is a double-sided sheet and you like the other pattern too!

I know you have been there too!

I stamped out the sentiment in gold but I wasn't happy with it - it wasn't gold enough. So I went over it with the gold ZIG Metallic Writer from Kuretake which made a huge difference!

Hope you are all having a good Saturday.

Kim

Simply Paris

2011-12-02T11:40:00.001Z

Hello Folks, here we are at Friday would you Adam and Eve it? I do have a make to show you and it is made out of paper and card and everything!

It uses the JustRite Cling Bon Voyage stamp set from Creative Expressions and is all about Paris.

I was in a bit of a panic this morning as we had no Tinternet! NO TINTERNET! Cut off from the world, no idea what was going on, then I thought - YAY! No Tinternet I can get on with stuff instead of feeding my having to be logged on obsession. But then the tinternet started working again *sigh* - won't get much done after all! LOL!

Have a fabulous Friday you all.

Kim

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - WOYWW

2011-11-30T12:21:00.003Z

I wasn't planning to post anything on my blog today but then I remembered that it is What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday and I haven't joined in the fun for ages, so I thought I would do a quick WOYWW post.

Well, it isn't quite a workdesk I have to show but a bit of work on some digital papers I'm designing. I haven't done any paper crafting with actual paper since Friday - SHOCK! But I have been doing lots of digital work in the last few days.

So on my Digital Workdesk today is:

I'm calling this one Distressed Harlequin - well that is its working title at the moment.

Don't forget to join in the WOYWW fun by popping over to Julia's lovely blog Stamping Ground.

Catch you later.

Kim

Experimenting With...Paper Texture Stamping

2011-11-29T15:30:00.001Z

What to do when your mojo has hit rock bottom? Experiment of course! Yep, I am having one of those days again and I need a bit of a creative breather, where I am still working but not having to come up with a finished make.

So I thought I would try out some different stamping textures by stamping with the ZIG Art and Graphic Twin Pens, from Kuretake and also available from Make The Day Special, on different papers in my stash.

The stamp I'm using is the Merry and Bright Unity Itty Bitty stamps also available from Make The Day Special.

I've also been experimenting with my photos again in Photoshop. Bit like the Hipstamatic pictures that were all the rage a year or so ago when everyone started downloading the iPhone app don't you think?

Well that's it from Kim Labs for today.

Hope you are having a good creative Tuesday.

Kim

La-La Land Crafts Inspiration Monday

2011-11-28T18:29:00.000Z

Hey guys, it's another La-La Land Crafts Inspiration Monday and this week it is all black and white.

I've used Autumn Marci and you can get her as a Rubber stamp or a Digi stamp.

So check this out... I've cut and pasted it from the La-La Land Crafts Blog 'coz there is so much cool stuff going on:

'Don't forget today's the LAST day to take advantage of our CYBER Sale at the La-La Land Crafts Store.

Receive a 20% DISCOUNT on ANY Purchase of $50 or more!! Digis INCLUDED!! Please enter this CODE upon your checkout - THANKS20. And that is not it - every order will be entered into the DRAWING for a chance to WIN our December RELEASE (eight NEW stamps!)

We are also having another fabulous GIVEAWAY on our Facebook page!! You will need to go "LIKE" the La-La Land Crafts Facebook Page (the link is on the right hand side bar) and send all your friends over to "LIKE" the page also.

When our Facebook Page reaches 2,000 fans (we're almost there), we will GIVE AWAY a set of 12 Copic Markers in new colors, a pack of X-Press It Blending Card, plus a $15 credit to our store!! Now go tell all your friends to like our page because the sooner we get to 2,000 fans the sooner we'll have that drawing!! :)

See? So much stuff!

Right, catch you later.

Kim

Sunday Round-Up - Dear Diary

2011-11-27T16:31:00.001Z

David and I haven't had any time off for good behaviour in a while so yesterday we treated ourselves to a blowout day in our home town of fun, funky London for a bit of relaxation and to recharge the creative batteries.

We tried to fit in as much as we possibly could starting with some performance art at the Wellcome Collection in Euston. I am a HUGE performance and instillation art fan, love it and this piece from Sheila Ghelani called Covet Me, Care For Me was an audience participation piece.

(Photo Copyright Sheila Ghelani via the Wellcome Collection website)

With 50 'mongrel' objects encased in sealed glass hearts, you pick a heart and then sign a receipt. You then dress in safety mask, apron and gloves and kneel before a cutting mat with your chosen heart and a hammer and break the glass to retrieve the item. Sheila then helps you to remove the safety clothes, which is all part of the performance, and hands you the object to take behind a screen where it is cleaned and wrapped with care by another performer at a desk with a draw and an old-fashioned standing lamp.

The idea is that you are encouraged to think about love, the passing of time, dissemination and cross-fertilization, and for me I felt like I was part of art and had participated in something very special and I was very grateful to be able to join in.

I'm going to look after my 'mongrel' item and wear it over my heart from time to time!

As we were in the Wellcome Collection we took some time to look around the exhibitions and, both being reformed scientists, it was nice to dip a toe into the history of science and I would recommend it for all, not just scientists! Their tag line is 'a free destination for the incurably curious' and I can definitely hold my hand up to being 'incurably curious'!

The Euston/King's Cross area is home to one of our favourite restaurants - Red N Hot - a yummy Szechaun restaurant on 37 Chalton Street, NW1 1JD. It was Snazz Szechaun but has recently been bought by the Red N Hot group but the food is still gorgeous.

After filling up on dumplings and 'Hot Numbing Beef', we set off again, jumping on a bus towards Blackfriars and cutting through the inner sanctum of Temple to get to 2 Temple Place, which had an exhibition of work from a collaboration between William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones, which I didn't know was going on. We were curious about the house, so it was a total bonus to see such amazing work including embroidered panels that had taken 8 years to complete.

By now it was starting to get dark and we decided to walk up to Charing Cross Road to check out the second-hand book shops and stop for a cuppa. We cut through Somerset House where they have one of the Christmas Ice Skating rings set up and I took the opportunity to get snap-happy and take action photos of skaters, well until we get told that unless we have friends and family on the ice, we aren't allowed to take photos - erm? Why?

And we popped past Covent Garden...

Ooo Sparkly - makes quite a Christmas card picture, doesn't it?

Our last port of call was a small production in a theatre above a pub. So we hightailed it up to Camden High Street for the Etcetera Theatre above The Oxford Arms to see Stand-Up Comics by Michael Eckett and the Sigil Club production company. A very enjoyable comedy set in a comic book shop and with lots of comic book references whilst we look at the relationship and development of the main characters.

After a drink in The Oxford Arms we set off home... I think we managed to make up for a lot of missed relaxing in our one day!

And before I go, just thought I would say a BIG thank you to those folks who have seen my recent article in Simply Cards and Papercraft Issue 91 about the freestyle / free-motion sewing and have been dropping me such lovely messages about it!

You guys are the best! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!

Oh and I've been playing about with making my own photograph masks, as seen on my photos above, what do you think?

Right I'm off, hope you all are having lovely weekends.

Kim

Sunday Round-Ups around the blogs - Update: Check out Debbi for her Sunday Round-Up.

Good Elf To You At Christmas!

2011-11-26T07:28:00.026Z

Hello All, so do you remember the cards I sneaked onto my blog on Wednesday? Well here they are in more detail. I have a little selection of Christmas elves for some notelet cards for children.

I've used the Make It Crafty Christmas Elf Collection for these little cards and you can get them from Quixotic Paperie, so say 'hello' to:

Zippy

Socks

Scruffy

Rocky

I've used some Kraft card from my stash. Elaine has some Bazzill Basics Smoothies Kraft card in the shop, I think it might be a lighter Kraft colour than the kraft I've used but it would still look fabulous!

Well hope you have a great Saturday and don't forget to pop into Quixotic Paperie to see all the new goodies.

Kim

Bon Voyage

2011-11-25T17:46:00.001Z

My poor little blog has been slightly neglected this week with a lack of makes but have no fear I have an ATC to show today made using the JustRite Cling Bon Voyage stamp set from Creative Expressions.

The background uses the postmark and stamp stamps from the kit as well.

Are you looking forward to the weekend? I certainly am! I've managed to finish one of my Christmas commissions and now I'm going to work on another and a couple of magazine articles too, all keeping me out of trouble! Right better go tidy up so that my boyfriend can actually get into the flat when he comes back from work - eek!

Hope you all have a lovely Friday.

Kim

Last Chance To...

2011-11-23T07:34:00.045Z

It's your last chance to get 10% off PanPastels and Sofft tools from YourCreativityStore.com with the code:

PanPastel10

It stops working after 12pm 24th November 2011 (GMT).

It is also your friends' and families' last chance to use the 10% off code to get you your Christmas present - Tee Hee!

It is my last chance to get my Christmas card commissions done...

So guess who is working her butt off?

That might be me - D'oh!

Have a fab Wednesday!

Kimx

Make The Day Special Blog Candy

2011-11-22T10:34:00.000Z

Hey Up Girls and Boys,

Just popping by to give you a heads-up on some blog candy - over at the Make The Day Special Blog we are celebrating 500 posts and Emily is giving away some goodies.

So pop on over to the blog and sign up to the giveaway before 25th November to be in with a chance to win!

Kimx

Inspiration Monday {Creams And Blue}

2011-11-21T13:49:00.000Z

How are you doing this lovely Monday? Well, ok so it isn't quite lovely, it is grey with only the occasional peek of sunshine but I just thought if I tried to tell myself that it was a lovely day then I might believe it!

It is the La-La Land Crafts Inspiration Monday and this week the inspiration is:

Creams and Blues

So my cream and blue make uses the super cute Luka with Pumpkin and he is available as both a rubber stamp and a digi-stamp.

I thought that he would make a good sepia urchin!

There are more cream and blue makes on the La-La Land Crafts blog both today and on Friday and don't forget that you can link up your La-La Land Crafts makes to the Customer Gallery to be in with a chance to win a prize.

Have a fun time on this lovely day!

Kim

Can I Open My Present?

2011-11-19T07:20:00.002Z

A fun little Christmas Tag for you today.

This cheeky elf is Socks and belongs to the Make It Crafty Christmas Elf Collection. The tag is made from scraps of My Memory box papers and there is a little touch of glitter from a Viva Decor Glitter Liner pen.

Watch out for those elves opening all the presents.

Kim

Bonjour Mon Ami

2011-11-18T13:06:00.001Z

It's Friday and so it is my Creative Expressions DT day. This week I have some different stamps to show you all, they are the JustRite Cling Bon Voyage stamp set. The JustRite stamps are designed to go with the Spellbinders Dies.

I've gone for a touch of Clean and Simple elegance with some Cosmic Shimmer White embossing powder.

If you have a moment pop on over to the Creative Expressions Facebook page as they are having a flash giveaway with Umount stamps to win! Only open for the next few hours - so get over there right away!

Catch you later.

Kim

Experimenting With...PanPastel On Surfaces

2011-11-17T13:02:00.002Z

No finished makes to show today but a bit of experimenting instead for a change.

Readers of Crafty Makes will know that I did a PanPastel review recently and that I have a special offer of 10% off all PanPastel and Sofft Tools with code PanPastel10 sponsored by YourCreativityStore.com.

I've continued to try the pastels out, I wanted to see how the PanPastels worked on different surfaces and I thought I would share the results so far with you all. Another long post I'm afraid, but it is mostly pictures.

I grabbed some of my favourite papers and surfaces and some other scraps that I had to hand. I brushed the PanPastels on with Sofft tools, used masks and also tried a spot of stamping with Versamark.

First up I used different colours of the Daler Rowney Murano Pastel Paper:

Purple Pastel Paper with Bright Yellow Green and Turquoise

Black Pastel Paper with Permanent Red and White

Cream Pastel Paper with Bright Yellow Green and Turquoise.

Next fabric - of course!

Fabric with Bright Yellow Green and Turquoise

Another favourite surface of mine - book pages:

Untreated Book Page with Magenta and Turquoise

Gesso treated Book Page with Magenta and Tuquoise

Then a bit of cardboard

Corrugated card with Permanent red and Bright Yellow Green

How about on some Designer Paper?

Designer paper with Bright Yellow Green and Turquoise

My final swatch shows the PanPastels on Crackle Paste from Golden

Golden Crackle paste with Permanent Red and Bright Yellow Green

These are examples of some of the surfaces I tried out, I didn't want to completely swamp you! The PanPastel worked beautifully on all the surfaces even the smoother papers like the designer papers.

I would love to know what surfaces you have tried PanPastel on and what you thought.

Happy experimenting.

Kim

Winner! Winner!

2011-11-16T08:41:00.000Z

We have a winner for the My Memories Software Giveaway and it is....

Maarit from Violets Corner

Big congratulations Maarit, please get in touch with me (my email address is in the sidebar) to get your download code.

What The Christmas Fairy Is Really Thinking...

2011-11-15T07:56:00.059Z

Slight change to my usual post today. Usually it would be my Make The Day Special DT make on a Tuesday, but you have already seen this week's MTDS make. So I thought I would take the opportunity to show some of my Digital Art playing and to remind you that you still have a few hours to enter my Blog Candy.

I made this digital collage in Photoshop Elements using elements from the Fairy Tail Christmas Digital Collage sheet 184 available from ItKuPilli (who I found via Kate Crane).

I've also used a couple of my own textures and the Gesso Altered Book Page freebie to add some texture. The swirls come with the My Memories Software and I altered them to fit my design. The watch faces are from the Amy Teets Postcards and Emphera kit.

I warned you I was getting back into my digital work!

Kim

Inspiration Monday {Red, Lace And Pearl}

2011-11-14T10:15:00.002Z

Hey All, hope you had a wonderful weekend, it's Monday so that means it is my La-La Land Crafts Inspiration Monday make and this week it is Red, Lace and Pearl.

Well I wasn't in a particularly girlie mood when I made my La-La Land Crafts make this week as you can see! So I put a male twist on it and used the fabulous Lil' Rocker Luka which you can get as a rubber stamp or a digi-stamp.

Can you guess what the 'lace' is? Or as Irina (La-La Land Crafts Owner) called it 'Manly' lace!

It's the plastic netting from fruit packaging...did you guess? The pearl is supplied by the button.

As always there are more makes from the DT over on the La-La Land Crafts blog today and on Friday and you can link your own makes up to the Customer Gallery to win a prize.

Have a glorious Monday.

Kim

No Sunday Round-up

2011-11-13T14:31:00.002Z

Hey up all, how is your Sunday hopping going? I'm not doing a Sunday Round-Up today but if you are looking for one then Lou has one for you.

My Sunday post today is a guest DT make for this week's PanPastel UK Challenge. Don't forget the special offer on PanPastels:

Use the code PanPastel10 at YourCreativityStore.com to get 10% off all the PanPastel and Sofft Tool products. If you want to learn more about PanPastels then pop to my review post, or scroll down.

The PanPastel UK challenge this week is - Fireworks/Explosions

I did the background with PanPastels - the Sofft tools and Permanent Red, Bright Yellow Green and Magenta. A touch of a music stamp and the star burst stamps from the Unity Adventures in Happiness kit.

Oh and if you are interested the PanPastel UK Challenge blog is on the lookout for some new talent to join their DT.

Hope you are having a great Sunday.

Kim

Review - PanPastel Colors And An EXCLUSIVE OFFER!

2011-11-12T08:00:00.002Z

[This post is sticky; Please scroll down for newer posts]

I am so excited to be able to share this with you today, I've been barely able to contain myself! If you read nothing else on my blog for weeks, you are going to want to get to the end of this post as I have an EXCLUSIVE SPECIAL OFFER for all my blog readers courtesy of the kind people at Your Creativity Store!

So biccys and tea at the ready...

Probably like yourselves, I've tried various pastels (also known as chalks) in several formats, hard, soft, sticks, pencils and compacted in boxes like eye-shadow. I enjoy using some like the pencils but have a bit of a love-hate relationship with some of the others like the sticks because of the way that they feel and the colour and covering that some of them give. So when I came across PanPastel Color I thought it might be time to reacquaint myself to working with pastels.

(Copyright PanPastel Colors via www.yourcreativitystore.com)

What Are PanPastel Colors?

For those of you that haven't come across them yet, they are an artist-quality soft pastel compacted into a plastic pot or 'pan'. They have been available to artists for a few years but are now starting to hit the crafting market. Being a bit of a science nerd, I quite like knowing the intricacies of the materials I work with - many don't, so forgive me for the next bit! Now as I understand it all pastels are basically pigment, filler (e.g. chalk) and binder but it is the proportions of each, the quality of the base materials and the way they are put together that makes the difference to the end product (and the price!).

According to the PanPastel Colors website what makes PanPastel Colors unique is that they are specially formulated with less filler and binder so have a higher concentration of the artist-quality pigment. This formulation means that they are very soft, generate less dust and give a better pigment load (concentration of colour) and coverage than other pastels. Oooo...gonna need to try them out then!

Working With PanPastel Colors

Ok non-science nerds - eyes front!

PanPastel Colors come in 20 pure colours and then each pure colour has a tint (lighter), a shade (darker) and an extra dark shade - a link to the colour chart is on the Your Creativity Store website. That means there are 80 PanPastels currently available but considering that they all blend well with each other the colour possibilities are enormous. There are some specially designed tools for appling the PanPastels called Sofft Tools, but more about these in a minute.

Well, straight away I can easily say that I love the colour choices, for us crafters particularly there are some bang on trend colours on offer. The first thing I did after 'ooing' and 'ahing' over the colours of course, was to see how the colour laid down. I used the cartridge paper in my sketchbook which isn't totally smooth and has some tooth (roughness of the surface) but isn't your usual high tooth pastels paper. Pastels usually like something to hold on to, so very smooth paper can be a no-no. Another advantage of PanPastels is that they are supposed to work on a wide range of surfaces (I'm planning to test this out later!).

Two or three gentle swipes of the Sofft Knife No. 2 over the surface of the pan picked up plenty of colour and with limited pastel dust formation. The colour stays on the knife sponge and then covers the paper with a creamy, easily flowing feel that is lovely. Ok so what about blending? As with other pastels, the PanPastels can have a translucent quality so can be layered over each other (sprayed with fixative between colours), blended on the paper or, unlike other pastels, blended in the pan (don't worry you can easily clean the pan again with a wipe of a Sofft sponge so no contamination).

So you can blend your own colours as you use the pastels and get different tints and shades just by blending with black and white. As I mentioned the Sofft Tools have been specially designed to work with the PanPastels, they are far denser than any make-up sponge or Cut N' Dry and I think that helps with the cutting down on the dust and the colour loading, but that is just my opinion after a very quick try with both a make-up sponge and Cut N' Dry, I'm sticking to the
Sofft Tools.

The Sofft Tools are shaped so that you can get all of the marks and action that you can with a stick pastel or your finger and they are washable and re-usable. They are also easily cleaned with a wipe or two on kitchen towel between loading different colours so you don't even have to change them for each colour if you don't want to.

Ok so I've got the basics, how about making something? Well it just so happens that the PanPastels Challenge blog has a Dark and Mysterious theme running this week so perfect for putting PanPastels through their paces.

It is an altered book page all coloured and stamped with PanPastels, you will recognise my old friend the gentleman skeleton from Artistic Outpost of course!

After treating the book page, backed with card, to a couple of layers of gesso and letting it dry, I used a round Sofft Art Sponge to apply an intense layer of Bright Yellow Green. I then used the same sponge and the Crafter's Workshop numbers mask with Permanent Red to add colour to two corners.

I then lightly stamped the opposite corners with a music stamp and Versamark, crumpled up the whole page to get the crease marks and lightly swiped the round Sofft Art Sponge loaded with Black to get the aged look. Now I fixed with a pastels fixative spray (I've been told that hairspray works too), you don't have to fix as the PanPastels are worked into the paper by the tools. Personally I prefer to fix as you can get some lifting of colour and I was using black so wanted to make sure I didn't transfer it to anything else.

I ironed the page to flatten it out and added my stitching. The skeleton and sentiment were stamped onto some spare card with Versamark and sponged with the PanPastels.

Ok so by now I think you can see that I am in love with PanPastels, there is a texture and a versatility to them that I really like and I enjoyed using them which I haven't with some other pastel brands. I've put them through the ringer and they have exceeded expectations, I think they are a very useful and versatile addition to any artist/crafter's colouring box.

And The Exclusive Offer?

If you are anything like me then I expect you would love to try these out for yourself?...So I'm really excited to say that thanks to the lovely people at Your Creativity Store, thanks Berni, I can share with you this great offer:

If you use this code: PanPastel10 (it is case sensitive so copy and paste to be sure),

you will be able to get 10% off of any of the PanPastel and Sofft Tool products in stock at Your Creativity Store.

That includes the PanPastel Single colours, PanPastel Sets, PanPastel Accessories and Sofft Tools.

The code is valid until 12pm on 24th November 2011, so spread the word, don't want folks to miss out!

Over To You...

I would love to know what you think. Have you used PanPastels yet? Have you seen them in use? How many colours have you got? Or which colours are on your wishlist. Any thoughts or comments are as always much appreciated.

Some links you might be interested in:

Your Creativity Store

PanPastel UK Challenge Blog

PanPastel UK Facebook

PanPastel UK On Twitter

Have fun PanPastel-ling!

Kim

(And now for the disclaimer - Your Creativity Store were very kind and sent me some PanPastel Colors and Sofft Tools to try out for this review, and to make some samples, but as with all my reviews I'm giving you my honest, unbiased opinion of these products, I can't help it if they are fabulous and I want you all to try them too! (No pressure though, I'm not getting any commission!))

It's An Octopode Factory Christmas

2011-11-12T07:15:00.050Z

I'm a bit of an Octopode Factory fan and this little guy has been waiting impatiently in my 'to-be-inked' bag for a while, but at last I got a chance to have a play with him for my Quixotic Paperie DT make this week.

He is the Octopode Factory Santa Claus.

I've used him with the Prima Alla paper pad and some Kraft card. Elaine has some Bazzill Kraft card in the shop, always handy to have around.

Doesn't he just look like he *hearts* Christmas?

Have a fun Saturday

Kim

Simply Royal Noel

2011-11-11T17:34:00.001Z

Have you got that Friday feeling? I'm not quite there yet, running just a touch behind - Yikes! Hence the late post today - Eeek!

You are safe today as this is only a short post unlike yesterday's tea and biscuit sized post!

It is a right royal Christmas Tag using Creative Expressions Stylish 1 Christmas.

The swirls are stamped on a layer of patterned vellum.

Hope you have managed to finish your to do list today and are now in Friday mode!

Kim

Cheering Up Your Best Friend!

2011-11-09T08:04:00.002Z

As you know I've got a My Memories Suite Software Blog Candy giveaway running at the moment - ends 15th November so you still have time to enter.

I've been putting the software through its paces and I have to say that I am still really enjoying playing with it. As I've said I am a Photoshop Elements girl but I'm so happy I've been able to add My Memories Suite to my electronic crafty tool box. It is really fun and easy to use and has got me all excited about digital art and craft again!

I've got a digital card to show you today and I made this with the My Memories Suite software and Amy Teets Designs About Dad and Postcard and Emphera kits

It is all about the fun Wednesday!

Kim

All The Joy Of Christmas

2011-11-08T11:04:00.000Z

Thought I would play with some alcohol inkiness for today's Make The Day Special DT project.

The stamp is the Unity Itty Bitty Silhouette song bird. I love the Itty Bittys, they are such a good price and as they are foam mounted rubber they are so very versatile too.

I used a combination of ZIG Kurecolor Twin Blood Red colour from the 'Dull' kit and the May Green ZIG Kuracolor Ink and layered it on card covered with the Painty Twin Gold.

Have a fabulously creative Tuesday.

Kim

Inspiration Monday {Mauve/ Silver/ White}

2011-11-07T14:07:00.001Z

Happy Inspiration Monday to you all!

I've got this week's La-La Land Crafts Inspiration Monday make to show today and it is all about Mauve/ Silver and White.

I've used Sunny Christmas Marci and you can get her as a rubber stamp or a as a digi-stamp.

Mmm - quite a tough one. I always think of mauve as the more pink, red side of purple but I suddenly realised I don't have that colour in any of my colouring tools so had to stick to the more blue side of purple - oops! But unfortunately she has come out even bluer in the photograph!

Hey Ho! It is the taking part that counts!

Hope you have better luck with your mauves.

If you fancy playing along don't forget to check out the La-La Land Crafts blog today and on Friday and to link your makes to the Customer Gallery for a chance to win.

Have a productive Monday.

Kim

Sunday Round-Up

2011-11-06T10:37:00.005Z

Hello Sunday Round-Uppers, how has this week treated you all? I've had one of those weeks where my mojo went on a little holiday and didn't bother to take me with it. Hopefully it is back and refreshed and ready to go for the new week!

How do you fancy a peek at a Work In Progress, WIP? One of the things that I've been wanting to try out for a long old time was making my own digital background papers but there is always other things to be doing isn't there? Well the recent playing with My Memories Suite has rekindled my desire to make background papers and digital art.

Here is one of the sheets I made in Photoshop Elements - I've called it Blue Lagoon.

I'm not sure how keen you guys are on digital art and crafting as I have a downloadable copy of My Memory Suite up for grabs as Blog Candy, but there does seem to be a lack of interest in it. Hey Ho, more chance for those who have signed up for it!

Talking about digital, David and I were up at Ally Pally (Alexandra Palace in North London) yesterday - no not for a craft show - yeah like I could persuade David to go to a craft show! It was for a celebration of 75 Years of TV at the old BBC Tower - you know that big metal thing that dominates the sky - don't tell me you miss it because you are too busy rushing round to the Palm Court entrance to get lots of lovely craft goodies?

It was a cute little insight into how Television started, check out this Radio Times exert from January 8th 1937, 'People you see; The Television Announcers' Interviewed by Guy Fletcher:

Oh My! I'm jolly glad times have changed (she says in her best BBC accent). I think I might punch anyone trying to call me 'Decorative'!

Well that is me this week, but before I go just wanted to let you know that I have a Christmas article using the lovely Marianne D Creatables Christmas Dies in the current issue of Papercraft Essentials (Issue 74).

I used the yummy Bo Bunny Gabrielle papers which aren't Christmas themed at all and I made them all Christmassy! So you don't have to have Christmas papers for your Christmas makes.

Bit of a warning though, I'm used to the fact that colours might not translate from computer to printed page but even the Bo Bunny website shows the Gabrielle papers as ice blue and coral. How shocked was I when they turned up and were actually very green teal and not ice blue at all. Bit of a disappointment when I got my hands on them, I had picked them specifically for the ice blue and coral colour combo so was somewhat dismayed when I got them!

Hey ho! It still worked out beautifully thanks to the lovely Lee Jepson, Editor of PE, who was very accommodating!

Oh and one last thing! Don't forget Sarah's November My Mojo Monday with the lovely Jo Capper-Sandon this month and the fab challenge and giveaway.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

Kim

Birthday Celebrations!

2011-11-05T07:45:00.008Z

Did you see Judy's lovely Birthday card on the Quixotic Paperie blog yesterday? Well I have another one today because it was Elaine's Birthday yesterday but the QP team are still in Celebratory mode! YAY! Birthday!

My Birthday make uses lovely Octopode Factory Alice and Crate Paper Farmhouse, the sentiment is from Whimsy Birthday Letters Seal set.

To celebrate her birthday Elaine has a special offer running at the shop...

Happy Birthday Elaine!

Kim

Christmas Decoration Tags

2011-11-04T10:14:00.000Z

I've been thinking about Christmas again with the Creative Expressions Stylish 1 Christmas, so how about a Tag or Decorations? Thought it would make a change from a card.

Might have overdone the snowy feel with the bobble wire - Tee Hee!

Have a fun Friday.

Kim

Digital ATC With My Memories Suite

2011-11-03T07:58:00.087Z

I've been playing with the My Memories Suite software some more, I wanted to see if I could get a bit grungy with it.

I thought I would try designing a card but in the end I turned it into a digital ATC! Well ideas do like to have the freedom to change!

I've used several layers of background papers added as shapes and then stretched to fit. I then changed the opacity of the shapes to build up the background texture.

I spent my $10 promotion code that came with the software at the Dollar Store (last of the big spenders me!) and got some lovely kits including the Newspaper Paper pack, Morning Hush Paper pack and Grid Overlay that make up the background

The butterflies came from the free Spring It On Extras kit and the buttons are in the My Heritage Pack from the Dollar store. I think the swirl came with the software under the Christmas section and the sentiment was also with the software under Memories.

So you can see I'm still having fun playing with this software. I've got a whole catalogue of digital papers and embellishments that I've accumulated over the years and the great thing is I can use them all even though they come from other places - so that is cool.

The only thing I do miss when using the My Memories Suite software is the ability to manipulate layers and change colours more directly, I would also like to have a drawing tool, but then I am a bit of a Photoshop fanatic. However, for an easy-to-use crafting software for anyone not wanting to spend hours (and hours, oh yeah- I've been there!) scratching their head wondering how to do things then My Memories Suite is excellent.

Don't forget you can win your very own copy of My Memories Suite to download in my giveaway!

Catch you later.

Kim

Kuretake Shop Opening For Business

2011-11-02T11:09:00.001Z

Keep your eyes open - the new Kuretake shop is due to open today! Wahoo!

Not only will you be able to get all your Kuretake and ZIG products from the Kuretake shop but Kuretake are also distributing the fabulous Basically Bare!

So now you will be able to get all the alterables and colouring mediums you need to let your creativity go wild!

I recently got a chance to play with some Basically Bare products and they are the perfect substrate for all the Kuretake ZIG range.

Here are a couple of projects, I'll be showing some more and some tutorials as well in the near future, so keep your eyes peeled.

Also have you checked out the Kuretake blog recently? Not only have there been some amazing projects from the DT but you might be interested in this 'Be A Kuretake Follower...Be A Winner' post!

Have fun nosing around the new Kuretake shop when it is open!

Kim

Your Ticket To Glitter

2011-11-01T11:04:00.001Z

Last Tuesday I showed you 'Your Ticket To Jingle' for today's make I've been making more Christmas notelet cards with the Itty Bitty ticket to jingle stamp from Unity available form Make The Day Special.

This time I've broken out the glitter.

I've used ZIG Art and Graphic Twin pens, from Kuretake which are also available from Make The Day Special, to stamp with and added a border of glitter with the ZIG 2 Way Glue pen on the ticket.

Right, I've got to go and clean up all the glitter!

Have a glittery day.

Kim

La-La Land Crafts Inspiration Monday

2011-10-31T15:20:00.000Z

We are blinging it up at La-La Land Crafts this week and I've got some subtle bling going on with a cute little tag.

I've used the cute Bedtime Luka and added some blinging stars and glitter to the heart.

If you get a chance don't forget to pop by the La-La Land Crafts blog to see the other DT makes.

Have a fun rest of your day.

Kim

Blog Candy - My Memories Software Giveaway and Money off code!

2011-10-30T10:57:00.001Z

Hello Hoppers, I have got something slightly different for you this Sunday - it is a GIVEAWAY and a money off code! YAY!

I'm one of the blogs you may have seen that is involved in the My Memories Suite Giveaway.

If you don't know My Memories Suite, it is a digital scrapbooking software that allows you to create your scrapbook pages in minutes, you can use a ready-made template or start one of your own from scratch. There are digital scrapping kits you can download for free and a huge resource of beautiful kits to buy but you can also use your own digital papers and embellishments.

But it isn't just for digital scrapbook layouts, you can make cards, tags, calendars etc and then you can also make videos of your work and add sound and share them with your friends on Facebook or print them out as a keepsake or a gift.

I've been lucky enough to have a play and bear in mind I only downloaded this yesterday, this is one of the pages I made:

The photograph and design is mine but the papers, tape strips, lettering were all done with the My Memories Suite V2.0 software. I'm really into ledger paper at the moment LOL!

I had great fun playing with the My Memories Suite software, I'm going to have a go with some of the other features and will report back but in the meantime you can win a FREE copy of the My Memories Suite V2.0 software to download by entering my giveaway below.

But if you can't wait that long, here is my unique coupon code that gives you $10 off the price of My Memories Suite V2.0, full price $39.97 USD (approx £24.80) so you would get it for $29.97 USD (approx £18.60).

STMMMS15760

Copy and paste this coupon code on the shopping cart page at the My Memories website to get $10 off and as My Memories Suite V2.0 comes with a $10 coupon to buy any Designer Pack you like at the MyMemories.com store you are actually getting $20 value!

The Giveaway:

Open to all my followers and subscribers (please feel free to follow or subscribe if you aren't already)

Leave a comment below answering a simple question to be in with a chance to win and feel free to share a link to this Giveaway post with all your family, friends, followers on Facebook, Twitter, your blog, etc

Question: Which Designer Pack would you like to try out first?

It can be a free one or a bought one. Pop over to the My Memories website to see all the designer packs on offer.

The giveaway will close on 12 midnight (UK time) 15th November 2011 and I will use Random.org to choose the winner. Open worldwide.

Good Luck!

Kimx

In The Potting Shed

2011-10-29T09:01:00.005+01:00

What is this? Halloween Weekend and no Halloween make?

Nope! Today it's my Quixotic Paperie DT make - a birthday card for a gardener using the lovely Stamping Bella Mo Manning Potter's Bench image.

The paper is Basic Grey Origins.

Such a lovely image, it was great fun to colour. I took my time as a I wanted it to be a special birthday make. Check out Sadi as well! But not a Halloweeny bit to be seen!

Have a great Saturday.

Kim

Stylish Christmas

2011-10-28T11:31:00.001+01:00

It is Christmas time again! This time for Creative Expressions and one of Sam Poole's stamp sets - Stylish 1 Christmas.

I've kept it quite simple with cream, black and red but I couldn't resist a burst of glitter.

Bling!

Hope your Friday is full of bling!

Kim

Your Ticket To Jingle

2011-10-25T10:52:00.001+01:00

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way with this Itty Bitty ticket to jingle stamp from Unity available form Make The Day Special.

It is one of three fab ticket stamps in the set and you can use them together or apart like this little Clean and Simple Christmas Card.

Yep - more CAS from me, I can't resist!

I've used ZIG Art and Graphic Twin pens, colours 9, 29 and 260, from Kuretake which are also available from Make The Day Special, to stamp with.

Have a jingly day.

Kim

Inspiration Monday {Snowflake}

2011-10-24T10:00:00.039+01:00

New week, so a new Inspiration Monday from La-La Land Crafts and this week the inspiration is Snowflake!

I've used Angel Marci for my La-La Land Crafts make this week, isn't she pretty?

The papers are from Pink Paislee Garden Butterfly and I've clear embossed with some snowflake stamps and then added some colour over the top.

There are some lovely makes from the Monday La-La Land Crafts team on the blog today and there will be more on the blog on Friday so pop on over. Don't forget also you have a chance to win a prize if you link up your La-La Land Crafts makes to the Customer Gallery.

Right I better go and do some more DT makes for the week, catch you all later.

Kim

Sunday Round-Up

2011-10-23T09:46:00.001+01:00

Hello Sunday Blog Hoppers, it's that time again and this week I have some Halloween project links to share with you all.

First off have you seen this fabulous Gory Brains Cap project? Not for the faint hearted LOL! But great for a bit of scary trick or treating!

Next up is some fabulous art. Some of you will know that I'm bit of a fan of sardine tin altering and I spotted this wonderful Halloween altered tin from Shelly Hickox recently.

Then we have some really cute Coffin Critters from Spooky Pooky Creations, spotted via Needlework Craft Gossip. They are so cute, I love Dracula!

Finally some more Halloween fun from Future Girl with these really fabulous Fanged Pumpkins! LOL!

*****
Before you go, I think my Sunday Round-Up news posts might be catching on! Check out Lou Mac for her Sunday Round-Up and Simonne for her Sunday Round-Up. If you have a Sunday News Round-Up blog post let me know and I will link to it here!

*****

Have a great Sunday Hopping.

Kim

Prima Meets The Quixotic Paperie Sketch Challenge

2011-10-22T07:53:00.011+01:00

Hey Guys, have you played along with our first Sketch Challenge over at the Quixotic Paperie Blog yet? It's a great sketch from Mary and if you play along you could win a £15 gift token to spend in Quixotic Paperie or see your work on the blog.

Well here is my take on the sketch, I've used paper from the Prima Marketing Alla Prima pack and the Prima Marketing Londonerry cling stamp set for this card.

The stamping uses the Archival Coffee ink pad.

A little bit of stitchery, a bit of tearing, some mulberry paper and embossing for this make.

If you want to see the sketch then pop on other to the Sketch Challenge post, there is more inspiration with this fabulous sketch here on the blog and on the design team's blogs (listed in the sidebar).

Have fun with the challenge and have a lovely Saturday.

Kim

You Are My Type Of Friend

2011-10-21T08:55:00.000+01:00

Some grungy colour for your fabulous Friday!

I've got my Creative Expressions make today and after all the Clean and Simple cards I've been doing I thought I would get down and inky for this one.

The sentiment is from the Vintage Typewriter Stamp Set.

The swirls are from the Funky Floral Stamp Set.

I've used Tim Holtz Distress inks from Ranger to add the pinks and purples.

Well I hope you enjoy your grungy Friday doing whatever you do on a Friday!

Catch you later.

Kim

Book Review – Witch Craft: Wicked Accessories, Creepy-Cut Toys, Magical Treats, and More!

2011-10-19T07:59:00.003+01:00

Review – Witch Craft: Wicked Accessories, Creepy-Cute Toys, Magical Treats, and More! Compiled by Margaret McGuire and Alicia Kachmar, Published by Quirk Books 2010

(Cover photo copyright Quirk Books)

You may have noticed a few Halloween-inspired makes on my blog recently; now, I am completely rubbish when it comes to anything scary but when it comes to cute Halloween I am most certainly there and Witch Craft: Wicked Accessories, Creepy-Cut Toys, Magical Treats, and More! is definitely on the cute side of wicked!

Witch Craft: Wicked Accessories, Creepy-Cut Toys, Magical Treats, and More! is full of Halloween-inspired makes and would be great for anyone looking for Halloween party ideas or gifts for both adults' and children's parties. The book is in a dinky 15.5 by 22 cm (~6 by 8 ½ inches) format, which I only mention because it adds to its cuteness! There are 27 projects that, as the title suggests, cover lots of different craft areas from food to decorations. Just as with Microcrafts, also from Quirk, which I reviewed in September, many of the projects are from crafters active on Etsy but unlike Microcrafts, Witch Craft includes crafters from various countries, such as America, Japan, Canada, Thailand and Denmark

There are a lot of projects in this book that I would like to try; for example, I loved the sparkly red shoes from Alicia Kachmar, then there is a super-cute crochet witch from Sayjai T that I want to get my crochet hook out for, and the Plushie Poison Apples project from Jacki Gallagher is to die for! Tee Hee! Of course there is the food as well, such as Maki Ogawa’s Ghost Toasts or Peanut Butter and Jelly Skull Sandwiches that looks spookily yummy and perfect for any party. This book really does cover a lot of crafty areas, and I haven’t even touched on the jewellery and accessories.

High production values are obviously standard at Quirk: like Microcrafts, this book is beautifully photographed, and the step by steps are short and simple and, even though a little bit of crafty common sense would help, many of the projects can be done by a total novice. There aren’t any step-by-step pictures but there are patterns and diagrams for some of the projects to help the making, and there are tips all the way through. There is also some great information about each of the designers in the back, as well as a shopping guide.

I enjoyed reading Witch Craft and I definitely plan to try out some of the projects. The book is very cute and I do like the whimsical approach and presentation style of the Quirk guys. If you are looking for a book as a Halloween gift that contains the SPIRIT of a contemporary crafter then this is for you (did you see what I did there?).

You will find Witch Craft: Wicked Accessories, Creepy-Cut Toys, Magical Treats, and More! already in the shops, as it was published in 2010 and it is available from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com.

(Just so that you know – this book was sent to me by Quirk books to review. My views are honest, unbiased and unpaid, well other than a free copy of the book that is!)

Sunshiney Day

2011-10-18T11:04:00.002+01:00

I'm obviously in a Clean and Simple mood with my makes at the moment and as today is a beautifully sunny Autumnal day I thought this little notelet would fit the bill!

The stamp is from The Cat's Pajamas range over at Make The Day Special.

I hope you are having a beautifully Sunshiney Tuesday.

Kim

La-La Land Crafts Inspiration Monday

2011-10-17T10:45:00.000+01:00

It's La-La Land Crafts Inspiration Monday and this week it is all about punches. But before we move on to the my make this week have you seen the cute Thanksgiving inspired stamps?

You can get them as digi stamps right now and they will be available in rubber in a few weeks.

I've used Baking Marci for my DT make this week.

Isn't she cute?

Don't forget to go check out the other lovely DT makes over at the La-La Land Crafts Blog today and Friday and then you can always link up your La-La Land Crafts makes to the Customer Gallery to win a prize.

Have a good Monday you all.

Kim

Sunday Round-Up

2011-10-16T10:57:00.001+01:00

How are we all doing, Sunday Blog Hoppers?

I've got something today that will get your crafty fingers tingling!

It's the Make With Me initiative from Mencap, the charity supporting people with learning disabilities and their families and carers. They also have a Bake With Me initiative for all you bakers out there - mmmmm - cake...

Well as Halloween is fast approaching, the Make With Me and Bake With Me guys have some great free projects to share such as some scarily yummy Edible Bones from the bespoke East London Baker Lily Vanilli and some fabulously freaky stitching from the Sublime Stitching stitcher herself, Jenny Hart.

There is lots of information on how to get involved on the Make With Me website, such as holding crafting parties to raise money or donating some of your own projects to inspire others. Also check their Facebook and Twitter pages too.

So my crafty cogs are turning, thinking what I can do to get involved, perfect for us crafty bloggers don't you think? What do you reckon? What can we as CRAFTY BLOGGERS do...? LOL! Spread the news? Hold a craft event? Donate some projects? Donate some cash?

Enjoy your Sunday.

Kim

If You Scare Easily Then Look Away...NOW!

2011-10-15T08:23:00.015+01:00

This might be a bit scary...

You might want to look away...

Lock your doors and windows...

It's the haunted house stamp from the Artistic Outpost Haunted Halloween Stamp set available from Quixotic Paperie.

The base of the ATC is from the scary Echo Park Apothecary paper...

Are you suitable scared now?

Well I did warn you in the title!

Don't have nightmares!

Kim 'The Zombie Crafter' Dellow

U R Unique And A Facebook Flash Giveaway With Creative Expressions

2011-10-14T12:03:00.000+01:00

Hey all, hope you are having a good week? I've got a little Clean and Simple Notelet card for my Creative Expressions DT make this week.

And some Giveaway news - if you pop on over to the Creative Expressions Facebook page today, 'Like' them and add one of your favourite crafty tips you could be in with a chance to win a Creative Expressions Stamp set. BUT you only have 'til 5pm so you better get over there quickly!

My make uses the Vintage Typewriter stamp set.

Oh and don't forget the Creative Expressions October Card Of The Month Competition with a chance to win the Vintage Typewriter, Vintage Communications and Fanciful Phrases stamp sets.

Catch you later.

Kim

Some Odd Girl Opulent Christmas Tag Tutorial

2011-10-12T08:16:00.040+01:00

Hi everyone, here is a step by step I recently put together as part of the month long celebrations for Kristy's Birthday over at her blog The Odd Girl.

It is a special Christmas Tag using the Some Odd Girl Angel Kaylee.

You will need:

Stamps - Angel Kaylee, Alphabet stamps, Music stamp

Papers - Prima Printery

Colouring - Prismacolor pencils

Inks - Versamark, Black

Usual Suspects - Scissors, Silicone glue

Equipment - Heat Gun, Crop-A-Dile, Paper distressor

Other - Ribbon, ZIG Embossing powder (Black Sparkle), Acrylic Paint (Gold), Sponge, ZIG Wink Of Stella Pen, Eyelet

Prepare your tag by cutting out several tag shapes to the size you want and make each tag slightly smaller than the one before. I used one of the '2011' labels in the Prima Printery paper pad but you could easily use a sentiment stamp or other cut-out. Also cut a small strip the width of the tag.

Stamp out the music in Versamark ink on your top tag layer, the smallest tag, and add the embossing powder, shake off excess and heat to melt the powder.

Distress the edges of all of the tag layers, sentiment and paper strip, I use a seam ripper for
this job.

Now all your layers are distressed start building up the tag by glueing each of the tag
layers in place. Add the gold acrylic paint to the distressed edges of all the papers using a sponge. I used some Cut n' Dry but you can easily use a make-up sponge for example.

Add the acrylic paint in lumpy blobs and smooth some of the blobs out to lightly add sparkle to the paper. Leave some of the blobs to dry to give a more bumpy opulent gold look to the tag. When the paint is dry tie the ribbon into a bow and the ribbon to the paper strip and stick it to the tag.

Stamp and cut out the 'Christmas' to stick to the '2011' cut-out and add a light touch of acrylic paint to the edges. Stick the sentiment to the tag.

Colour Angel Kaylee and add sparkle to her wings, hair and shoes with the ZIG Wink Of Stella pen and stick her to the tag to finish.

Hope you enjoyed this opulent little sparkly tag.

Don't forget to go take a look at all of Kristy's birthday celebrations!

Kim

Pin It

Say Hello To Josie!

2011-10-11T08:20:00.000+01:00

Have you seen Josie yet? She is a perfect Halloween cutie! She is one of the Simply Betty stamps available from Make The Day Special.

I love her button eyes and owl friend!

Catch you all later.

Kim

La-La Land Crafts Inspiration Monday

2011-10-10T10:00:00.031+01:00

Going all spooky this week with La-La Land Crafts Inspiration Monday, so be prepared for some major league cute spookiness!

I've used Skeleton Luka for my Halloween make and you can get him as a rubber stamp or a digi-stamp.

I've used Pink Paislee papers and embellishments.

If you are looking for more scares then don't forget to pop on other to the La-La Land Crafts blog today and on Friday.

Happy Monday to you all.

Kim